EXCHANGE 


THE  RADIOACTIVITY  OF  ILLINOIS  WATERS 

BY 

CLARENCE  SCROLL 

B.  S.  University  of  Illinois,  1913 
M.  S.  University  of  Illinois,  1914 


THESIS 


Submitted  in  Partial  Fulfillment  of  the  Requirements  for  the 


Degree  of 


DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


IN  CHEMISTRY 


IN 


THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL 


OF  THE 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


-• 
IT? 


1916 


THE  RADIOACTIVITY  OF  ILLINOIS  WATERS 


BY 


CLARENCE  SCROLL 

B.  S.  University  of  Illinois,  1913 
M.  S.  University  of  Illinois,  1914 


.;• 

THESIS 

Submitted  in  Partial  Fulfillment  of  the  Requirements  for  the 

Degree  of 

DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 
IN  CHEMISTRY 

IN 

THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL 


OF  THE 


UNIVERSITY 

1916 


Gen 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

This  investigation  was  carried  out  at  the  suggestion  and  under 
the  direction  of  Professor  Edward  Bartow.  I  wish  to  take  this 
opportunity  of  thanking  Professor  Bartow  for  the  assistance  given 
me  during  the  investigation.  I  wish  also  to  express  my  appreciation 
and  thanks  to  the  members  of  the  Physics  Department  for  their  sug- 
gestions and  help  in  the  electrical  measurements. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Acknowledgement 2 

Historical  .  . 5 

Methods  of  detection  and  measurement 6 

Radioactive  standards 8 

Plan  of  work 10 

Apparatus 11 

Electroscope    for   gases 11 

Electroscope  for   solids 12 

Standardization   of  electroscopes 12 

Electroscope  for  gases 13 

Electroscope  for  solids 14 

Separation  of  emanation  from  water 14 

Test  for  thorium 15 

Radioactivity  analyses    15 

Classification  of  the  waters  examined 15 

Discussion  of  results 17 

Waters  from  wells  in  deep  rock 17 

Waters  from  wells  in  drift 18 

Waters  from  wells  in  Lower  Mississipian 18 

Waters  from  springs 19 

Springs  north  of  Ozark  uplift 19 

Springs  of  the  Ozark  uplift 20 

Comparison  with  other  American  and  European  waters 20 

Conclusions 21 

Bibliography 23 

Vita  .  ..31 


TABLES 

PAGE 

1.  Rutherford 's  list  of  radioactive  elements 6 

2.  Relative  luminosity  of  various  substances  used  in  the  luminous 

screen  method 7 

3.  Standardization  of  electroscopes  for  gases 13 

4.  Standardization  of  electroscope  for  solids 14 

5.  Radioactivity  of  waters  in  comparison  with  their  contents  of 

calcium,  magnesium  and  residue 1(5 

6.  Decay  of  activity  of  water  from  Dixon  Springs 21 

7.  Radioactivity  of  American  and  European  waters 22 


FIGUEES 

1.  Simple  electroscope  for  solids 26 

2.  Simple  electroscope  for  gases 26 

3.  Simple  electroscope  for  solutions 26 

4.  Electroscope  for  solids 26 

5.  Electroscope  for  gases,  front  view 27 

6.  Electroscope  for  gases,  side  view 27 

7.  Apparatus  for  separating  emanation  from  uraninite 27 

8.  Apparatus  for  separating  emanation  from  water 27 


PLATES 

1.  Comparison  of  decay  of  activities  of  water  from  Dixon  Springs 

with  radium  emanations 28 

2.  Relation  of  activity  to  calcium  and  magnesium  in  waters  from 

deep-rock  wells 28 

3.  Relation  of  activity  to  calcium  and  magnesium  in  water  from 

drift  wells 29 

4.  Relation  of  activity  to  residues  in  water  from  drift  wells 29 

5.  Relation  of  activity  to  calcium  and  residue  in  water  from  lower 

Mississippian 30 

6.  Relation   of   activity  to   calcium   and  residue   in   water   from 

springs , 30 


RADIOACTIVITY  OF  ILLINOIS  WATERS.* 
By  Clarence  Scholl 

During  his  visit  to  the  United  States  in  1902,  J.  J.  Thomson120 
reported  that  the  research  men  of  Cavendish  laboratory  of  London 
had  separated  a  very  active  gas  from  a  deep  well  water.  At  Professor 
Thomson 's  suggestion  Bumstead  and  Wheeler26  investigated  the  waters 
of  New  Milford  and  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  and  found  that  these 
two  waters  contained  gases  whose  activity  was  six  to  eight  times  the 
normal  air  leak  of  an  electroscope.  Similar  research  made  by  other 
investigators,1 -3'29'36'56'72'115'  upon  European  waters,  showed  that  the 
active  gases  occurred  universally  but  varied  in  quantity  in  different 
localities.  As  there  was  no  standard  of  activity  at  that  time  no  quan- 
titative measurements  were  made;  the  period  of  decay  of  the  active 
material  was  found  to  correspond  in  most  cases  to  the  decay  period 
of  radium  emanation. 

Boltwood17  in  1904,  and  Boltwood  and  Rutherford19  in  1906,  in- 
vestigated the  proportion  of  radium  and  uranium  in  radioactive  min- 
erals and  found  the  ratio  of  radium  to  uranium  to  be  constant,  3.4  x 
10-7  grams  of  radium  per  gram  of  uranium.  Lind  and  Whittemore69 
confirmed  this  ratio  in  1915.  As  the  amount  of  radium  emanation  in 
equilibrium  with  radium  is  constant,  the  amount  of  radium  emanation 
is,  therefore,  proportional  to  the  amount  of  uranium.  Boltwood15 
suggested  that  the  quantity  of  radium  emanation  set  free  when  a 
known  weight  of  a  natural  uranium  mineral  is  dissolved  in  a  suitable 
reagent,  be  taken  as  a  standard  of  radioactivity. 

In  1905  he  used  this  standard  in  investigating  the  activity  of 
the  very  active  thermal  spring  of  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas.18  Bolt- 
wood's  emanation  standard  was  adopted  by  Moore  and  Schlundt  in 
their  investigations  of  the  waters  of  Missouri82  (1905) ,  and  the  thermal 
waters  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park83  (1909)  ;  by  Shrader111  in 
the  investigation  of  waters  near  Williamstown,  Massachusetts  (1914)  ; 
by  Moore  and  Whittemore84  in  the  investigation  of  Saratoga  Springs, 
New  York  (1914)  ;  by  Ramsey91  in  the  investigation  of  the  waters  of 
Indiana  and  Ohio  (1915)  ;  and  by  Perkins89  in  the  investigation  of 
the  waters  of  Rhode  Island  (1915). 


*A  thesis  prepared  under  the  direction  of  Professor  Edward  Bartow  and  submitted  in 
partial  fulfillment  of  the  requirements  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  in  chemistry 
in  th«  University  of  Illinois,  June,  1916. 


6 


THE    WATERS   OF   ILLINOIS 


Radium  emanation,  which  causes  the  radioactivity  of  waters,  is 
formed  by  the  decomposition  of  radium,  which  may  or  may  not  be 
present  in  the  water.  The  emanation  is  dissolved  by  the  water  in  its 
passage  through  the  ground. 

Eadium  emanation  is  the  sixth  element  in  the  list  of  active  ele- 
ments compiled  by  Rutherford,97  given  in  Table  1. 

TABLE  1. — RUTHERFORD'S  LIST  OF  RADIOACTIVE  ELEMENTS. 


Element 

Radiation 

Half  life  period 

Uranium 

oc 

6  x  109  years 

Uranium  X 

£+7 

24.  6  days 

Uranium  Y 

P 

1.5  days 

Ionium 

a 

Greater  than  20,000  years 

Radium 

a  -}-  slow  P 

2,000  years 

Emanation 

<x 

3.85  days 

Radium  A 

a 

3  min. 

Radium  B 

0+7 

26.8  min. 

Radium  Ct 

«+£+7 

19.5  min. 

Radium  Cz 

j8 

1.4  min. 

Radium  D 

slowjS 

16.5  years 

Radium  E 

0+7 

5  days 

Radium  F 

a 

136  days 

Radium  salts,  although  seldom  found  in  natural  waters  have  been 
found  in  waters  in  the  Tyrol7  district  of  the  Alps  and  in  the  Doughty 
Springs47  of  Colorado.  Their  absence  in  most  natural  waters  is  ex- 
plained by  the  chemical  properties113  of  the  element.  It  is  in  the 
second  group  of  Mendeljeff's  periodic  system  as  the  highest  member 
of  the  barium  series.  Radium  sulfate  is,  therefore,  even  more  insolu- 
ble than  barium  sulfate ;  even  radium  chloride  remains  dissolved  only 
in  a  solution  strongly  acidified  with  hydrochloric  acid.  Since  many 
natural  waters  are  alkaline  and  many  contain  large  quantities  of  sul- 
fate and  chloride,  radium  salts  can  not  be  present  in  solution.  Most 
waters,  therefore,  contain  only  emanation. 

METHODS  OF  DETECTION  AND   MEASUREMENT. 

Three  general  methods  have  been  employed  for  determining  the 
presence  of  radioactive  material:  (1)  the  photographic  method,  (2) 
the  luminous  screen  method,  and  (3)  the  electrical  method. 

1.  The  photographic  method27  was  used  very  extensively  in  the 
early  measurements  of  activity.  It  depends  on  the  darkening  of  a 
photographic  plate  when  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  active  substance. 
The  method  may  be  used  with  distinct  advantage  in  studying  the 
curvature  of  the  path  of  the  rays  when  under  the  influence  of  a  mag- 
netic or  electric  field.  As  a  quantitative  method,  however,  it  is  open 
to  many  objections.  The  active  material  must  be  in  a  solid  state  of 
aggregation,  and  usually  a  day 's  exposure  to  a  weak  source  of  radiation 


RADIOACTIVITY    OF   ILLINOIS    WATERS  7 

is  required  to  produce  an  appreciable  darkening  of  the  photographic 
film.  Since  darkening  of  a  photographic  plate  may  be  produced  by 
many  agents  which  do  not  give  out  radioactive  rays,  special  precau- 
tions are  necessary  during  long  exposures.  Another  and  more  impor- 
tant difficulty,  however,  lies  in  the  inaccuracy  inhering  in  measure- 
ments of  density  in  the  photographic  impression  from  which  the 
intensity  of  the  radiation  must  be  calculated. 

2.  The  luminous  screen  method28'35  depends  upon  the  appear- 
ance of  a  brief  illumination  when  an  alpha  ray  from  an  active  material 
strikes  a  screen  of  sensitive  material  such  as  barium  platinocyanide, 
willemite,  diamond,  or  zinc  sulfide.  The  amount  of  active  material 
present  can  be  calculated  from  the  number  of  illuminations  in  a  given 
time.  The  method  has  been  used  extensively,  but  its  application  is 
limited  by  the  low  intensity  of  some  of  the  illuminations.  The  lumi- 
nosities produced  in  barium  platinocyanide,  willemite,  and  diamond 
are  of  service  only  in  qualitative  work.  Table  2  gives  the  relative 
luminosity  of  five  substances.100 

TABLE  2. — RELATIVE  LUMINOSITY  OF  VARIOUS  SUBSTANCES  USED  IN 
THE  LUMINOUS  SCREEN  METHOD. 


Substance 

Without  Screen 

Through  Black  Paper 

Zinc  blende.  .  .  . 

13  36 

0  53 

Barium  platinocyanide.  . 

1.99 

0  10 

Diamond    

1  14 

0  01 

Potassium  uranium  dout 

le  sulfate 

1  00 

0  31 

Calcium  fluoride  

0.30 

0.01 

The  luminosity  produced  in  zinc  sulfide  has  proved  invaluable  in 
quantitative  work,  since  it  affords  a  direct  method  of  counting  the 
number  of  alpha  particles  emitted  from  an  active  solid  substance,  but 
it  is  not  applicable  to  waters,  whose  activity  is  due  to  gases. 

3.  The  electrical  method  75,90,103,114,119  js  based  on  the  ionization 
of  gases  by  radioactive  substances.  The  production  of  positively  and 
negatively  charged  particles  in  a  gas  is  directly  proportional  to  the 
number  of  rays  emitted,  to  the  quantity  of  radioactive  material,  and 
to  the  current  of  electricity  which  can  pass  through  the  gas.  The 
strength  of  this  current  of  electricity  is  the  quantity  usually  deter- 
mined: the  maximum  current  produced  when  the  gas  is  electrically 
saturated  is  always  taken. 

The  strength  of  the  current  can  be  measured  with  a  sensitive  elec- 
trometer.2'25-37'71 But  in  most  cases,  since  the  material  is  but  slightly 
active,  it  is  more  convenient  to  use  an  electroscope.17'63'125'126  Since 
the  capacity  of  an  electroscope  is  nearly  constant,  the  average  rate  of 


8  THE   WATERS    OF   ILLINOIS 

movement  of  the  leaves  is  directly  proportional  to  the  rate  of 
discharging  the  system,  to  the  amount  of  electricity  passing  through 
the  gas,  to  the  ionization  of  the  gas,  to  the  number  of  rays  emitted, 
and  to  the  amount  of  active  material  present.  If  a  solid  substance  is 
placed  between  two  horizontal  plates,  the  lower  connected  to  the  earth, 
the  upper  connected  to  the  leaf  system  of  a  charged  electroscope  the 
activity  can  be  determined  directly  by  observing  the  rate  of  fall  of 
the  leaf  with  a  telemicroscope  provided  with  a  uniform  scale  in  the 
eyepiece.  The  observed  fall  must  be  corrected  by  subtracting  the 
natural  leak  of  the  apparatus  when  no  radioactive  material  is  present. 
An  electroscope  of  this  kind  is  especially  suited  for  the  measurement 
of  activity  caused  by  alpha  rays,  (see  Figure  1.) 

A  modification  of  this  electroscope  can  be  used  to  determine 
extremely  small  currents  of  electricity  with  accuracy.  This  modi- 
fication first  used  by  Wilson125  in  the  study  of  the  ionization  of  air, 
has  the  gold  leaf  attached  to  the  vertical  upper  plate  (see  Figure  2). 
The  whole  system  of  plate  and  leaf  is  insulated  within  the  containing 
vessel  after  charging  by  means  of  a  movable  wire  passed  through 
the  walls  of  the  vessel  and  touched  to  the  upper  plate  whenever  de- 
sired. 

RADIOACTIVE  STANDARDS. 

A  great  many  measurements  of  the  activity  of  spring  and  well 
waters  have  been  made,  but  there  is  no  general  comparison  of  the 
results  of  various  investigators.  Of  the  many  standards  suggested, 
but  three  are  now  in  general  use :  the  McCoy79-80  urano-uranic  oxide 
standard,  the  Boltwood16'19-22  equilibrium  emanation  standard  (the 
curie) ,  and  the  C.  G.  S.  absolute  standard. 

McCoy,  Ashman,  and  Boss80  have  recently  studied  the  relation 
between  the  McCoy  urano-uranic  oxide  standard  and  the  C.  G.  S.  unit 
by  using  uniform  layers  of  specially  prepared  oxide.79  They  found 
the  ionization  currents  due  to  the  alpha  rays  from  a  thick  film  of 
urano-uranic  oxide  to  be  5.79  x  10'13  amperes  or  1.737'3  C.  G.  S.  elec- 
trostatic units  per  square  centimeter.  This  value  is  constant  and 
capable  of  being  reproduced.  The  specific  activity  of  uranium,78 
defined  as  the  total  ionization  current  from  one  gram  of  uranium 
when  all  the  radiation  is  absorbed  in  the  air,  is  796  McCoy  units.  The 
total  ionization  currents  from  one  gram  of  uranium  free  from  its 
products  is  then  1.38  C.G.S.  electrostatic  units. 

Rutherford99  has  shown  that  one  gram  of  uranium  emits  2.37 
x  104  alpha  particles  per  second.  Each  particle  has  a  range  of  2.50 
centimeters  and  produces  a  total  of  1.26  x  105  ions.  Each  of  these 


RADIOACTIVITY   OF  ILLINOIS   WATERS  9 

ions  98  has  an  elementary  charge  of  electricity  of  4.65  x  KV10  C.  G.  S. 
electrostatic  units.  Thus  one  gram  of  uranium  is  equivalent  to  2.37 
x  104  x  1.26  x  105  x  4.65  x  10-10=1.38  C.  G.  S.  electrostatic  units. 
This  agrees  with  the  figure  cited  above. 

Boltwood20  has  shown  that  if  the  activity  of  uranium  free  from 
its  product  be  taken  as  1.00,  the  relative  values  of  the  activities  due  to 
alpha  rays  of  the  different  elements  in  equilibrium  in  a  uranium 
mineral  are  as  follows: 

Uranium 1.00 

Ionium 34 

Radium 45 

Radium  emanation 54 

Radium  A 62 

Radium  B 04 

Radium  C 91 

Radium  F  (Polonium) 46 

Actinium  and  its  products 28 


Total  activity  4.64  x  Uranium 

In  the  determination  of  the  activity  of  a  sample  of  uraninite 
by  means  of  the  emanation  method  an  activity  is  separated  equivalent 
to  that  of  radium  emanation,  or  0.54  of  the  activity  of  the  uranium 
present.  The  decay  of  radium  emanation  into  radium  A,  B,  and  C 
however,  is  so  rapid  that  in  the  determination  not  only  the  effect  of 
the  radium  emanation  is  measured  but  also  the  effect  of  radium  A,  B, 
and  C.  The  effect  of  radium  F  (Polonium)  is  small  and  can  be  neg- 
lected. The  sum  of  these  activities  will  be  0.54  +  0.62  +  0.04  -f 
0.91  =  2.11  times  that  of  uranium  free  from  its  products,  if  all  activity 
is  absorbed  in  air. 

Hence  1.38  x  2.11  ==  2.90  C.  G.  S.  electrostatic  units  is  the  total 
equivalent  of  one  gram  of  uranium  in  uraninite,  if  the  emanation 
is  calculated  at  its  maximum  activity. 

Duane  and  Laborde's32  formula  for  the  relation  between  a  max- 
imum current  and  that  obtained  in  any  electroscope  is 


(I  is  the  electric  current  in  electrostatic  units  in  an  electroscope  with 
a  surface  S  and  a  volume  V.    I0  is  the  true  equivalent  in  electrostatic 


10  THE   WATERS   OF  ILLINOIS 

units).     Solving  this  equation  for  the  current  of  the  electroscope, 
we  get 


Substituting  the  values  of  S  and  V  for  the  gas  electroscopes,  we 
get 


2777 

I  =  0.696  electrostatic  units. 

The  activity  of  one  gram  of  uranium,  therefore,  equals  0.696  elect- 
rostatic units  in  the  system. 

This  factor  was  used  in  changing  data  from  the  uraninite 
standard  to  the  electrostatic  unit  standard. 

PLAN  OF  WORK. 

The  purpose  of  this  investigation  was  to  determine  quantitatively 
the  radioactivity  of  Illinois  waters  and  to  study  the  relations,  if  any, 
between  the  radioactivity,  the  dissolved  mineral  constituents,  and  the 
geographical  and  geological  locations  from  which  the  waters  were 
obtained. 

The  electrical  method  of  measuring  radioactivity  was  adopted 
for  use  in  the  investigation.  The  first  electroscope  tried,  made  ac- 
cording to  specifications  of  some  European  investigators,39  was  found 
unreliable  for  small  quantitative  measurements,  when  tested  with  ur- 
aninite. A  modification  of  an  electroscope  designed  by  Wilson,125 
was  tested  and  found  satisfactory  for  the  measurement  of  radioactivity 
of  gases,  and  an  electroscope  with  an  ordinary  leaf  system  was  adopted 
for  testing  the  activity  of  solids. 

Some  of  the  waters  were  analyzed  in  the  field;  samples  of  the 
others  were  collected,  sealed,  and  shipped  to  the  laboratory  where  they 
were  analyzed  immediately.  The  results  of  the  analyses  made  in  the 
laboratory  were  corrected  for  the  decay  of  activity  by  means  of  the 
formula  I0  =  It°"rt  in  which  I0  is  the  initial  activity,  It  is  the 
observed  activity  at  the  time  of  making  the  analysis,  t  is  the  time  after 
the  water  was  collected,  and  r  is  the  radioactive  constant.102  This 
has  a  value  of  .0075  when  t  is  expressed  in  hours,  or  0.1800  when  t  is 
expressed  in  days. 

Whenever  the  presence  of  radium  salts  was  suspected,  the  water 
was  evaporated  to  about  100  centimeters,  acidified  with  hydrochloric 
acid  sealed,  and  kept  for  thirty  days  in  order  to  allow  the  emanation 


RADIOACTIVITY   OF  ILLINOIS   WATERS  11 

to  again  reach  a  maximum.  The  activity  if  any,  when  again  tested, 
was  due  to  the  radium  present  in  the  original  sample. 

Samples  of  sediment  in  the  waters  were  examined  in  a  similar 
manner  but  none  were  found  to  be  radioactive. 

The  waters  were  analyzed  for  their  mineral  constituents  by  the 
methods  advocated  by  the  American  Public  Health  Association6  and 
the  Illinois  State  Water  Survey.58 

APPARATUS 
Electroscope  for  gases 

The  electroscope,  constructed  by  the  Central  Scientific  Company, 
is  an  adaptation  of  Boltwood's  modification17  of  Wilson's  electros- 
cope.125 (See  Figures  5  and  6).  It  consists  of  a  cylinder  8  centimeters 
long  and  15  centimeters  in  diameter,  fitted  at  each  end  with  a  piece 
of  plate  glass.  The  side  of  the  cylinder  is  securely  fastened  to  a  wooden 
base  by  means  of  an  iron  stand  four  inches  high.  A  short  wide  glass 
tube  covers  a  hole  in  the  top  of  the  cylinder.  A  brass  cap  surmounts 
the  glass  tube.  A  short  brass  rod  is  screwed  into  the  cap.  A  piece  of 
amber,  screwed  on  the  lower  end  of  rod,  supports  a  gold  or  alu- 
minium leaf  plate  and  insulates  the  leaf  and  plate  within  the  cylinder. 

The  device  for  charging  is  a  special  feature.  An  arm  is  fastened 
on  the  brass  rod  and  supports  a  soft  iron  wire  extending  below  but  not 
touching  the  amber  insulator.  The  leaf  is  charged  to  the  same  poten- 
tial as  the  brass  cap  above,  by  bringing  a  magnet  near  the  glass  and 
forcing  the  wire  against  the  leaf  plate.  Two  air-tight  stopcocks,  one 
at  the  top  and  one  at  the  bottom,  are  for  the  admission  of  gases.  All 
joints  are  made  air-tight  by  sealing  with  wax  and  rosin.  An  alumi- 
nium leaf,  5  by  50  millimeters,  was  used  rather  than  the  gold  leaf, 
which  gave  trouble  continually.  It  was  fastened  to  the  plate  by  plac- 
ing a  streak  of  glue  across  the  upper  part  of  the  plate  and  then  press- 
ing the  leaf  firmly  against  it.  The  original  aluminium  leaves  have 
withstood  transportation  by  rail  to  various  parts  of  the  State  and  are 
still  in  good  condition. 

The  electroscope  was  charged  by  the  following  method :  The  iron 
wire  was  forced  with  a  magnet  against  the  leaf  plate.  A  charged 
vulcanite  rod  was  brought  near  the  cap  until  the  desired  potential  was 
obtained.  The  iron  wire  was  allowed  to  swing  free  by  removing  the 
magnet ;  the  vulcanite  rod  withdrawn ;  the  cap  earthed  for  an  instant, 
and  the  leaf,  insulated  within  the  cylinder,  was  thus  charged  at  the  de- 
sired potential. 


12  THE   WATERS   OF   ILLINOIS 

A  tele-microscope,  the  eye  piece  of  which  contained  a  scale  twelve 
millimeters  long  with  each  millimeter  divided  into  ten  divisions,  was 
used  to  determine  the  rate  of  fall  of  the  leaf.  A  stop  watch  recording 
fifths  of  a  second,  was  used  to  determine  the  time  interval. 

Two  U  tubes,  one  containing  phosphorus  pentoxide  (P205),  the 
other  containing  calcium  chloride  (CaCl2),  were  always  connected  in 
series  with  the  electroscope,  when  evacuating  or  when  adding  gases, 
the  phosphorus  pentoxide  tube  being  between  the  electroscope  and  the 
calcium  chloride  tube. 

Electroscope  for  solids 

The  electroscope  for  measuring  the  radioactivity  of  solids  was 
obtained  from  E.  H.  Sargent  of  Chicago.  It  consisted  of  a  cubical 
metal  box,  4^y2  inches,  fitted  on  two  opposite  sides  with  glass  plates 
which  could  be  raised  or  lowered.  (See  Figure  4).  An  amber  ring 
supported  and  insulated  a  leaf  below  and  brass  ball  above  the  center 
of  the  top.  These,  with  a  leaf  plate  and  rod  connecting  the  brass  ball, 
made  up  the  electrical  carrying  portion  of  the  electroscope.  A  small 
copper  tray  4x4^  inches  held  the  solid  material  when  it  was  inserted 
in  the  box  for  the  determination.  No  precautions  were  taken  for  dry- 
ing the  material. 

STANDARDIZATION  OF  ELECTROSCOPES. 

The  methods  of  measuring  radioactivity  give  relative  quantitative 
values.  The  activity  of  some  substance  is  taken,  as  the  fundamental 
unit  and  the  activities  of  other  substances  are  compared  with  it. 
Fundamental  units  are  the  Mache,  the  curie,  and  that  from  uranium. 
The  amount  of  radium  in  one  gram  of  uranium  in  uranium  ores,  as 
found  by  Boltwood19-21  and  Eutherford101,  and  later  by  Strutt116  and 
by  McCoy77,  is  always  3.4xlO'7  gram.  If  the  emanation  from  a  weighed 
sample  of  uranium  mineral,  whose  content  of  uranium  is  known  from  a 
chemical  analysis,  is  used,  we  can  calculate  the  radium  equivalent  of 
the  activity.  Thus  if  we  use  one  gram  of  mineral  containing  25  per  cent 
of  uranium  the  fall  of  the  leaf  of  the  electroscope  corresponds  to 
3.4  x  10'7  x  .25  =  0.85  x  1O7  gram  of  radium.  Or  if  expressed  in 
grams  of  radium  per  space  per  minute,  we  have 

3.4  x  10-7  x  .25 

— r 7 FTS : = — =  x  grams  of  radium  in  uranium 

number  of  spaces  fallen  in  one  mm. 

mineral  per  space  fall  per  minute.  A  " curie"20  is  the  amount  of 
emanation  in  equilibrium  with  one  gram  of  radium.  Hence  the  activ- 
ity obtained  from  X  grams  of  radium  is  X  curies  of  emanation. 


RADIOACTIVITY   OF  ILLINOIS   WATERS 


13 


Electroscope  for  gases 

A  small  weighed  quantity  of  the  standard  sample  of  uraninite  con- 
taining 43.6  per  cent  uranium  was  placed  in  a  flask,  of  about  100  cubic 
centimeters  capacity.  (See  Figure  7).  Ten  milligrams  were  usually 
taken,  as  this  quantity  produced  a  convenient  rate  of  fall  of  the 
leaf.  The  flask  was  closed  with  a  two-hole  rubber  stopper ;  a  separatory 
funnel  was  fitted  in  one  hole,  and  an  upright  condenser  in  the  other. 
The  condenser  was  connected  by  a  glass  tube  and  stopcock  to  another 
flask  also  fitted  with  a  two-hole  stopper.  Through  one  was  the  con- 
nection to  the  condenser  and  through  the  other  a  glass  tube  with  a 
stopcock.  After  the  whole  apparatus  had  been  made  air-tight,  it 
was  evacuated  by  a  pump  connected  to  the  stopcock.  A  little  dilute 
nitric  acid  was  added  to  the  uraninite  in  the  flask,  and  the  mixture 
was  then  boiled  for  fifteen  minutes.  The  acid  and  water  rising  as 
vapor  condensed  in  the  condenser  and  returned  to  the  flask.  After 
boiling  fifteen  minutes,  distilled  water  free  from  emanation  was  run 
into  the  apparatus  through  the  separatory  funnel  until  the  mark 
was  reached.  The  stopcock  was  then  closed.  The  emanation  with 
other  gases,  now  in  the  flask  under  a  fraction  of  an  atmosphere 
pressure,  were  introduced  into  the  partially  exhausted  electroscope 
and  the  rate  of  fall  of  the  leaf  determined  after  3  to  3i/2  hours.  The 
fall  of  the  leaf  was  corrected  by  subtracting  the  normal  air  leak  of 
the  electroscope  when  the  gas  in  the  electroscope  was  free  from  eman- 
ation. The  correction  was  always  small  and  amounted  to  only  0.003 
division  per  minute  for  the  electroscope.  The  rate  of  fall  was  always 

TABLE  3. — STANDARDIZATION  OF  ELECTROSCOPES  FOR  GASES. 


Date. 

Mineral 
used. 
(Grams.) 

Divisions 
fall  per 
minute. 

Activity  per  division 
per  minute. 

(UR.  g.xlO-4)       |       (Ra.g.xlO-10) 

ELECTROSCOPE  A 


Oct.  23,  1914  .  .  . 
Oct.  26,  1914  

.0299 
.0301 

15.80 
16.08 

8.28 
8.12 

2.81 
2.76 

Dec.  4,  1914  

0253 

18  18 

6  06 

2  06 

Dec.  5,  1914 

0069 

4  92 

6  11 

2  08 

Feb.  24,  1915  

.0078 

5  50 

6.50 

2.21 

Sept.  25,  1915  
Dec.  13,  1915 

.0078 
0074 

5.50 
2  14 

6.50 
15  1* 

2.21 
5  13 

Dec.  14,  1915  

.0113 

3  17 

15  2 

5.17 

Jan.  7,1916  
Jan.  8,  1916  

.0159 
.0082 

10.0 
5.14 

6.93b 
6.95 

2.36 
2.36 

ELECTROSCOPE  B 


Oct  23,  1914 

0342 

18  28 

8  16 

2.77 

Oct.  26,  1914  
Dec.  4,  1914  

.0340 
.0204 

18.28 
9  92 

8.14 
8  86 

2.77 
3.01 

Dec.  5,  1914  .  .  , 
Sept.  25,  1915  

.0125 
.0086 

6.70 
4.55 

8.13 
8.24 

2.76 
2.80 

Dec.  13,  1915  

.0105 

6  00 

7.68 

2.61 

Dec  14,  1915 

0094 

5  40 

7  64 

2.59 

Jan  7,  1916  

.0087 

5.00 

7.59 

2.57 

aThe  aluminium  leaf  was  shortened  to  about  one-half  its  original  length. 
l'A  new  leaf  was  placed  in  the  electroscope. 


14 


THE    WATERS    OF   ILLINOIS 


taken  when  the  leaf  was  at  an  angle  of  less  than  30°  with  the  plate. 
The  electroscopes  were  standardized  at  frequent  intervals.  (See 
Table  3). 

Electroscope  for  solids 

One-tenth  of  a  gram  of  the  original  uraninite  was  dissolved  in  a 
small  quantity  of  nitric  acid  and  evaporated  to  dryness  in  a  porcelain 
dish.  The  residue  was  taken  up  with  a  small  quantity  of  water,  trans- 
ferred to  a  copper  plate,  and  evaporated  to  dryness.  This  plate  was 
then  inserted  into  the  electroscope  and  the  rate  of  fall  of  the  leaf 
determined.  The  rate  of  the  normal  leak,  obtained  by  exactly  the  same 
procedure,  but  without  the  uraninite,  was  subtracted.  Thus  a  fall  of 
the  leaf  of  one  millimeter  per  minute  represented  6.2  milligrams  of 
uranium  in  uraninite.  The  electroscope  was  standardized  for  thorium 
by  the  same  procedure  used  for  uranium,  except  that  thorium  sulfate 
and  nitrate  were  substituted  for  the  uraninite.  The  standardization 
data  are  given  in  Table  4. 

TABLE  4. — STANDARDIZATION  OF  ELECTROSCOPE  FOR  SOLIDS. 


Date. 


Mineral  used. 
(Grams) 


Divisions  fall 
per  minute. 


Activity  per  division 
per  minute. 


URANIUM  DATA 


(URANIUM  IN 
GRAMS). 


Nov.  19,  1914     |    0. 100  uraninite.  .  . 


7.06 


0.0062 


THORIUM  DATA 


(THORIUM  IN 
GRAMS) . 


Dec.  8,  1914 

0.274  as  sulfate  

3.47 

0.078 

Jan.  17,  1916 

0.1  124  as  nitrate 
+  05  NaCl. 

1.46 

0.077 

Jan.  27,  1916 

0.0196  as  nitrate 
4-02  NaCl  

0.23 

0  085 

Jan.  20,  1916 

0.196aantrate  

0.97 

0.0202 

SEPARATION  OF  THE  EMANATION  FROM  WATER 

The  sample  of  water  to  be  examined  for  radioactivity  was  col- 
lected in  a  round-bottom  flask  holding  about  1200  cubic  centimeters. 
A  liter  was  taken  except  for  waters  of  very  high  activity  in  which  case 
half  quantities  were  taken.  Great  care  was  exercised  to  obtain  a  rep- 
resentative sample  of  the  water.  The  flask  was  immediately  closed 
with  a  two-hole  stopper  fitted  with  two  glass  tubes.  Each  of  these 
was  fitted  with  a  piece  of  rubber  tubing  with  a  pinch  cock  attached. 
The  flask  was  then  connected  to  an  upright  condenser  and  flask.  (See 
Figure  8).  The  condenser  and  flask  were  evacuated  with  the  pinch- 
cock  closed.  The  pinch  cock  was  then  opened  and  the  water  in  flask 
was  boiled  vigorously  for  about  20  minutes,  after  wrhich  water  free 


RADIOACTIVITY   OF  ILLINOIS   WATERS  15 

from  emanation  was  then  run  in  through  the  stopcock  as  in  the  process 
of  standardization.  The  emanation  with  other  gases  was  then  trans- 
ferred to  an  electroscope  and  the  activity  determined. 

TEST  TOR  THORIUM 

After  the  expulsion  of  radium  emanation  in  the  determination 
of  radioactivity  the  samples  of  water  were  evaporated  to  dryness. 
The  residues  were  taken  up  in  a  small  quantity  of  hydrochloride  acid, 
transferred  to  small  plates,  4  inches  in  diameter  and  one-fourth  inch 
in  depth,  again  evaporated  to  dryness,  and  the  activities  of  the  resi- 
dues on  these  plates  were  determined  in  the  electroscope  for  solids. 
In  none  of  the  waters  tested  was  any  thorium  found. 

Portions  of  the  deposits  found  at  some  of  the  springs  were  tested 
for  activity  in  the  same  manner.  There  was  no  evidence  of  thorium. 

RADIOACTIVITY  ANALYSES 

Gas  was  found  escaping  from  only  one  water  (Alton  mineral 
spring).  It  was  evolved  at  a  rate  of  about  3  cubic  centimeters  per 
minute.  No  radium  or  thorium  emanation  was  found  in  the  gas. 

Deposits  were  found  only  at  the  Dixon  springs  of  the  Ozark  uplift. 
No  radium  or  thorium  was  found  in  the  deposits. 

One  hundred  and  thirty  determinations  of  radioactivity  of  natural 
waters  were  made,  and  thirty-seven  determinations  of  the  radioactivity 
of  residues  sealed  for  thirty  days.  Twenty-two  specimens  of  the 
mineral  residues  were  tested  for  thorium.  No  thorium  was  detected 
in  either  the  residues  or  waters.  Excluding  negative  and  doubt- 
ful results,  the  analyses  of  sixty-eight  waters,  whose  activity  and 
whose  mineral  constituents  are  known,  are  compared  in  Table  5. 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  THE  WATERS  EXAMINED 

Natural  waters  may  be  classified  according  to  their  physical  and 
chemical  properties,49  or  according  to  the  geological  strata  from  which 
they  come.  Classification  by  physical  and  chemical  properties,  as 
for  example  Peale's50  classification  modified  by  Hay  wood,51  have  been 
tried,  but  have  not  been  found  advantageous,  since  no  direct  relation 
has  been  found  between  the  radioactivity  and  the  classes  of  water 
indicated. 

Classified  according  to  source,  Illinois  waters  fall  in  four  large 
groups.  (1)  Waters  from  deep  rock  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
state,  including  waters  from  the  Potsdani  ?pd  St.  Peter  sandstones, 
from  the  Trenton  Galena  formation,  and  from  the  lower  magnesium 
limestone. 


16 


THE   WATERS   OF   ILLINOIS 


TABLE  5. — RADIOACTIVITY  OF  SIXTY-EIGHT  ILLINOIS  WATERS  IN  COM- 
PARISON WITH  THEIR  CONTENTS  OF  CALCIUM  AND  MAGNESIUM  AND  RES- 
IDUE ON  EVAPORATION. 


No. 

Date. 

Location 

Depth 
Feet 

Cal- 
cium 

Magne- 
sium 

Resi- 
due 

Radioactivity 

Uranium 
10-*  g. 

Radi'irn  1    E.S.U. 
10-'°  G.|       10-3 

[Paris  per  million.] 

WATERS  FROM  DEEP-ROCK  WELLS. 


1 

3-13-16 

Alton  

1450 

358.4 

186.8 

16293.5 

2  8 

0.95 

19.6 

2 
3 

4 

10-29-15 
10-29-15 
2-17-15 

Carbondale  .  .  . 
Carbondale  .  .  . 
Elgin        

600 
610 
1850 

50.0 
21.4 
93.6 

21.9 
7.9 
48.9 

3367.5 
2188.5 
600  1 

2.1 

1.8 
5.2 

0.71 
0.61 
1.76 

14.7 
12.6 
35.4 

5 

2-18-15 

Elgin 

1300 

80.1 

24.0 

375 

4  4 

1  49 

30  8 

6 

2-15-15 

Harvey    

1668 

173.5 

48.5 

1204.2 

3.3 

1.12 

23.1 

7 

2-25-16 

Ottawa    .  . 

400 

70.4 

84.0 

364 

2  7 

0  92 

18  9 

8 

2-25-16 

Ottawa 

1800 

102 

42  2 

3623 

2  1 

0  71 

14  7 

9 

2-25-16 

Ottawa  

319. 

105. 

3276  7 

2  3 

0.78 

16.1 

10 
11 

2-27-16 
2-25-16 

Ottawa  
Peru  

310 
1263 

58.4 
51.5 

26. 
10.5 

353. 
746.2 

3.6 
3.1 

1.23 
1.05 

25.2 
21.7 

12 

2-25-16 

Peru 

1400 

52.3 

21.7 

1570  4 

2  7 

0  91 

18  9 

13 

2-25-16 

Peru  

1390 

48.8 

22. 

811. 

2.5 

0.85 

17.5 

14 

12-  2-15 

Stonefort.    .  .  . 

189.3 

134.7 

2123  6 

2  5 

0.85 

17.5 

15 

2-24-16 

Streator 

640 

48  9 

11  9 

770  6 

2  9 

0  99 

20  3 

16 

2-24-16 

Streator  

540 

61.8 

6.8 

1070.7 

2.4 

0.82 

16.8 

17 
18 
19 
20 

2-24-16 
2-24-16 
2-19-15 
2-1Q-15 

Streator  
Streator  
Waukegan..  .  . 

'660 
1500 

46.6 
56.0 
123.9 
7  7 

24.6 
23.9 
23.1 
9  1 

880.5 
1099.1 
532.7 
2189 

1.4 
2.2 
2.9 
2  0 

0.48 
0.75 
1.00 
0  68 

9.8 
15.4 
20.3 
14  0 

21 

2-19-15 

Waukfcgan..  .  . 

95.0 

49.9 

477.5 

3.5 

1.19 

24.6 

WATERS  FROM  DRIFT  WELLS. 


22 
23 
24 
25 

2-17-15 
2-26-16 
2-26-16 
12-  3-15 

Aurora  
Bloomington.  . 
Bloomington.. 

94 
170 
155 
150 

72.4 
53.2 
51.0 
38  9 

29.5 
28.3 
32.4 
21  8 

326.9 
486.8 
421.4 

4.0 
3.3 
5.3 
4  5 

1.36 
1.12 
1.80 
1  53 

28.0 
23.1 
37.1 
31  5 

26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 

9-28-15 
9-28-15 
9-27-15 
2-18-15 
12-  3-15 
10-  6-15 
10-  6-15 

Champaign  .  .  . 
Champaign.  .  . 
Champaign  .  .  . 
Elgin  
Harrisburg  
Homer  
Homer  

32 
165 
165 
42 
106 
120 
200 

112.1 
62.4 
56.0 
74.4 
56.8 
74.7 
67.2 

40.6 
96.0 
26.0 
28.8 
33.8 
34.8 
34.8 

466.9 
350.0 
328.7 
388. 
538. 
482.3 
1466.1 

2.9 
2.5 
1.6 
6.2 
4.1 
4.9 
8.4 

0.99 
0.85 
0.54 
2.10 
1.40 
1.66 
2.86 

20.3 
17.5 
11.2 
43.4 
28.7 
34.3 
58.8 

33 

10-  6-15 

72 

78.  5 

36.1 

512.0 

6  7 

2  27 

46  9 

34 

10-  6-15 

Homer  

86 

106.4 

20.4 

522. 

3.2 

1.09 

22.4 

35 

2-16-15 

Joliet 

155 

165.4 

107.8 

1033.2 

8.4 

2.86 

58.8 

36 

2-16-15 

Joliet  

500 

206.4 

78.0 

1212.5 

11.4 

3.88 

79.8 

37 

2-16-15 

Joliet 

225 

394.4 

281.5 

2647.4 

18.7 

6.36 

130.9 

38 
39 
40 
41 

10-11-15 
12-  4-15 
12-  2-15 
9-24-15 

Rossville  
Shawneetown  . 
Stonefort  
Urbana  

130 
148 
25 
30 

57.5 
113.9 
130.2 
70.9 

42.9 
50.9 
97.0 
32.6 

356.6 
552.1 
1283.9 
345.4 

1.6 
4.9 
4.2 
3.3 

0.54 

1.66 
1.43 
1.12 

11.2 
32.2 
29.4 
23.1 

42 
43 

44 
45 
46 
47 

6-  1-15 
12-  7-14 
9-29-15 
1-15-15 
10-10-15 
10-  8-15 

Urbana  
Urbana  
Urbana  
Urbana  
Watseka  
Watseka  

60 

'26 
160 
150 
160 

105.1 
51.6 
68.5 
73.5 
41.8 
47.9 

55.3 
26.0 
47.0 
33.3 
14.2 
15.9 

557.0 
332.3 
709.2 
394.8 
342.6 
379.9 

3.3 
2.4 
2.1 
2.4 
3.6 
4.3 

1.12 
0.82 
0.7 
0.82 
1.22 
1.46 

23.1 
16.8 
14.7 
16.8 
25.2 
30.1 

WATER  FROM  LOWER  MISSISSIPPIAN. 


48 

10-26-15 

Cairo  

824 

45.1 

12.9 

337.7 

3.3 

1.12 

23.1 

49 

10-26-15 

Cairo      

824 

45.4 

12.8 

336.4 

2.0 

0.68 

14.0 

50 

10-26-15 

Cairo 

1040 

46.1 

13.0 

348.8 

1.4 

0.49 

9.8 

51 

10-26-15 

Cairo    

675 

63.0 

17.9 

643.1 

4.1 

1.39 

28.7 

52 

10-26-15 

Cairo 

826 

52.9 

13.8 

435.6 

13.0 

4.42 

91.0 

53 

10-26-15 

Cairo  

800 

66.6 

21.0 

571.3 

1.4 

0.49 

9.8 

54 

10-26-15 

Mound  City.  . 

630 

45.2 

12.5 

265.5 

2.5 

0.85 

17.5 

55 

12-  2-15 

Creal  Springs. 

711. 

24.6 

8.36 

172.2 

56 

10-27-15 

Dixon  Spring. 

4i!2 

is!2 

305.7 

18.2 

6.19 

127.4 

57 

10-27-15 

Dixon  Spring. 

26.4 

14.1 

232.9 

86.1 

29.30 

602.7 

58 

10-27-15 

Dixon  Spring.. 

!  '.  '. 

29.1 

13.3 

247.0 

4.9 

1.67 

34.3 

59 

10-27-15 

Dixon  Spring. 

28.9 

14.2 

261.4 

4.0 

1.36 

28.0 

60 

12-16-15 

Dixon  Spring  . 

'.  '.  ! 

5.1 

1.4 

62.3 

67.0 

22.80 

469.0 

61 

12-16-15 

Dixon  Spring.. 

2.9 

0.5 

98.1 

13.0 

4.42 

91.0 

SPRING  WATER  NORTH  OF  OZARK  UPLIFT. 


62 
63 
64 

10-28-15 
10-28-15 
2-25-16 

Mt.  Vernon.  .  . 
Mt.  Vernon.  .  . 
Ottawa 

319.1 
103.8 
102 

203.0 
50.9 
42  2 

2610.1 
1202.6 
3623. 

5.2 
2.2 
2.1 

1.76 
0.92 
0.71 

36.4 
15.4 
14.7 

65 

2-25-16 

Ottawa  

319.0 

105.0 

3276.7 

2.3 

0.78 

16.1 

66 

2-25-16 

Peru 

52  3 

21.7 

1570. 

2.7 

0.91 

18.9 

67 
68 

2-19-15 
2-19-15 

Waukegan.  .  .  . 
Waukegan..  .  . 

95.0 
123.9 

49.9 
23.1 

477.5 
532.7 

3.5 
2.9 

1.19 
1.00 

24.5 
20.3 

RADIOACTIVITY    OF   ILLINOIS    WATERS  17 

(2)  "Waters  from  the  drift,  including  those  occurring  in  glacial 
drift,  alluvial  drift  and  in  loess. 

(3)  Waters  from  the  lower  Mississippian,  including  the  deep- 
well  waters  south  of  the  Ozark  uplift. 

(4)  Waters  from  the  Ozark  uplift,  mainly  springs,  occurring 
among  the  Ozark  foot  hills  of  southern  Illinois. 

DISCUSSION  OF  RESULTS 

The  activity  of  the  sixty-eight  waters,  expressed  in  terms  of  the 
uranium,  radium,  and  electrostatic-unit  standards,  are  exhibited  with 
calcium,  magnesium,  and  residue  according  to  the  four  geological 
groups  in  which  the  waters  are  classified  in  Table  5.  No  apparent 
relation  exists  between  the  activity  and  other  mineral  constituents, 
so  that  data  concerning  them  are  omitted. 

Waters  from  deep-rock  wells  have  a  uniform  activity  but  varying 
amounts  of  mineral  constituents.  Waters  from  drift  wells  vary  both 
in  activity  and  mineral  constituents.  Waters  from  the  lower  Mis- 
sissippian vary  in  activity  but  have  a  uniform  amount  of  mineral 
matter.  Spring  waters  can  be  divided  in  two  smaller  groups:  one 
with  constant  activity  and  varying  mineral  matter;  the  other  with 
constant  mineral  matter  and  varying  activity. 

Waters  from  wells  in  deep  rock 

The  activities  of  twenty-one  waters  from  deep-rock  wells  vary 
between  0.5  and  1.5  x  10'10  gram  of  radium  per  liter.  The  largest 
number,  however,  have  an  activity  of  approximately  1.0  x  10'10  gram 
of  radium  per  liter.  These  waters  of  uniform  activity  vary  widely 
in  mineral  constituents,  for  calcium  varies  between  8  and  360  parts 
per  million;  magnesium  between  7  and  187  parts  per  million,  and 
residue,  between  364  and  16,300  parts  per  million.  A  water  (No. 
11  from  Peru)  with  a  calcium  content  of  51.5  parts  per  million,  a  mag- 
nesium content  of  10.5  parts  per  million,  and  a  residue  of  746  parts 
per  million  has  an  activity  of  1.05  x  10'10  gram  of  radium  per  liter, 
and  a  much  more  highly  mineralized  water  (No.  1  from  Alton),  with 
a  calcium  content  of  358.4  parts  per  million,  a  magnesium  content  of 
186.8  parts  per  million,  and  a  residue  of  16293.5  parts  per  million, 
has  an  activity  of  0.95  x  10'10  gram  of  radium  per  liter,  which  is 
practically  the  same  as  that  of  the  first  water.  There  appears  to  be 
no  relation  between  the  activity  and  the  mineral  constituents  of  these 
waters  (See  Plate  2). 


18  THE   WATERS    OF   ILLINOIS 

Waters  from  wells  in  drift 

The  activities  of  twenty-six  waters  from  drift  wells  vary  between 
0.5  and  5.7  x  10'10  grain  radium  per  liter.  These  waters  of  varying 
activity  vary  also  in  mineral  constituents :  calcium,  between  42  and 
395  parts  per  million;  magnesium,  between  14  and  282  parts  per 
million,  and  residue  between  327  and  2647  parts  per  million.  The 
activity  of  the  waters  in  this  group  increases  with  an  increase  in 
mineral  constituents.  (Plate  3  and  4). 

A  water  (No.  38  from  Rossville)  of  the  lowest  mineral  content, 
having  57.5  parts  per  million  of  calcium,  42.9  parts  per  million  of 
magnesium,  and  a  residue  of  356.6  parts  per  million,  has  an  activity  of 
but  0.54  x  10'10  gram  of  radium  per  liter,  and  another  water,  (No. 
37  from  Joliet)  of  the  highest  mineral  content,  with  394.4  parts  per 
million  of  calcium,  281.5  parts  per  million  of  magnesium,  and  a  resi- 
due of  2647.4  parts  per  million,  has  the  highest  activity,  6.36  x  10"10 
gram  radium  per  liter.  The  activities  of  the  two  waters  are  in  the 
same  ratio  as  the  like  mineral  constituents. 

In  many  waters  the  relation  appears  to  be  quantitative.  The 
relation  between  the  activity  and  calcium  in  the  majority  of  the  waters 
examined  is  56  parts  per  million  of  calcium  for  every  1.0  x  10'10 
grama  of  radium. 

The  relation  between  the  activity  and  magnesium  in  the  majority 
of  the  waters  examined  is  44  parts  per  million  magnesium  for  each 
1.0  x  10'10  gram  of  radium. 

By  adding  the  calcium  and  magnesium  we  get  in  the  majority 
of  waters  examined  100  parts  per  million  of  calcium  and  magnesium 
for  each  1.0  x  10'10  gram  of  radium. 

The  relation  between  activity  and  residue  in  most  of  the  waters 
examined  is  400  parts  per  million  of  residue  for  each  1.0  x  10'10 
gram  of  radium. 

No  other  relation  between  the  activity  and  mineral  constituents 
were  found,  nor  was  a  relation  found  between  the  activity  and  the 
depth  of  the  well. 

Waters  from  wells  in  lower  Mississippian 

The  activities  of  seven  waters  from  the  Lower  Mississippian  vary 
between  0.5  and  4.5  x  10'10  gram  of  radium  per  liter,  a  variation  of 
1  to  9.  These  waters  have  very  uniform  mineralization,  calcium,  from 
45  to  67  parts  per  million  (a  variation  of  only  1  to  1.5)  ;  magnesium, 
from  13  to  21  parts  per  million,  (1  to  1.7),  and  residue,  from  266 
to  643  parts  per  million,  (1  to  2.4).  The  variation  of  the  residues 
is  even  less  if  the  sodium  chloride  is  subtracted.  (See  plate  5). 


RADIOACTIVITY    OF   ILLINOIS    WATERS  19 

A  water  (No.  50  from  Cairo)  with  a  content  of  calcium  of  46.1 
parts  per  million,  of  magnesium  of  13.0  parts  per  million,  and  a  residue 
of  349  parts  per  million  (residue  minus  sodium  chloride  equals  200 
parts  per  million)  has  the  lowest  activity  of  0.49  x  10'10  gram  of 
radium  per  liter;  and  another  water  (No.  52  from  Cairo)  with  pract- 
ically the  same  mineral  content,  having  52.9  parts  per  million  of 
calcium,  13.8  parts  per  million  of  magnesium,  and  a  residue  of  435.6 
parts  per  million  (residue  minus  sodium  chloride  equals  224  parts  per 
million),  has  the  highest  activity,  4.42  x  10-10  gram  of  radium  per 
liter,  which  is  nine  times  that  of  the  first  water.  There  appears  to 
be  no  relation  between  the  activity  of  these  waters  and  the  mineral 
constituents. 

Waters  from  springs 

The  activities  of  fourteen  spring  waters  vary  between  0.8  and 
29.3  x  10'10  gram  of  radium  per  liter.  These  waters  of  varying  activity 
have  varying  mineral  constituents;  calcium  from  3  to  319  parts  per 
million;  magnesium,  0.5  to  203  parts  per  million,  and  residue  from 
98  to  2610  parts  per  million.  However,  the  waters  can  be  divided 
into  two  groups,  one  group,  including  the  springs  north  of  the 
Ozark  uplift,  resembles  the  waters  from  deep  rock  wells  having  con- 
stant activity  and  variable  mineral  content,  while  the  other  includes 
the  springs  in  the  Ozark  uplift  of  variable  activity  and  variable 
mineral  content.  (Plate  6). 

Springs  north  of  Ozark  uplift 

The  activities  of  seven  springs  north  of  the  Ozark  uplift  vary 
between  0.7  and  1.7  x  10'10  gram  of  radium  per  liter,  a  variation  of 
1  to  2.4.  These  waters  of  rather  uniform  activity  differ  widely  in 
mineral  constituents;  calcium  from  95  to  319  parts  per  million,  a 
variation  of  1  to  3.3 ;  the  magnesium  from  23  to  203  parts  per  million, 
a  variation  of  1  to  9,  and  residue  from  533  to  3623  parts  per  million, 
a  variation  of  1  to  7. 

A  water  (No.  66  from  Peru)  with  52.3  parts  of  calcium,  21.7 
parts  of  magnesium  and  a  residue  of  1570  parts  per  million,  has  an 
activity  of  0.91  x  10'10  gram  of  radium  per  liter,  and  another  water 
(No.  65  from  Ottawa)  of  much  higher  mineral  content,  with  319.0 
parts  per  million  of  calcium,  105.0  parts  per  million  of  magnesium, 
and  a  residue  of  3277  parts  per  million,  has  an  activity  of  0.78  x  10'10 
gram  of  radium  per  liter,  which  is  slightly  lower  than  that  of  the 
former  water.  There  appears  to  be  no  specific  relation  between  the 
activity  of  these  waters  and  the  mineral  constituents.  (Plate  6). 


20  THE   WATERS    OF   ILLINOIS 

Springs  of  the  Ozark  uplift 

The  activities  of  seven  springs  in  the  Ozark  uplift  vary  between 
1.4  and  29.3  x  10'10  gram  of  radium  per  liter,  a  variation  of  1  to  21. 
These  waters  of  widely  varying  activity  differ  in  mineral  constituents, 
calcium,  from  3  to  41  parts  per  million,  a  variation  of  1  to  13.7; 
magnesium,  from  0.5  to  18  parts  per  million,  a  variation  of  1  to  36, 
residue,  from  63  to  711  parts  per  million,  a  variation  of  1  to  11.3. 
No  uniform  relation  exists,  however,  between  the  activity  and  mineral 
constituents,  for  the  water  highest  in  activity  (29.3  x  10'10  gram  of 
radium  per  liter  for  No.  57  from  Dixon  Spring)  is  but  slightly  min- 
eralized, having  26.4  parts  per  million  of  calcium,  14.1  parts  per 
million  of  magnesium,  and  232.9  parts  per  million  of  residue;  the 
water  highest  in  mineral  matter,  with  41.2  parts  per  million  of  cal- 
cium, 18.2  parts  per  million  of  magnesium,  and  306  parts  per  million 
of  residue,  has  a  medium  activity  of  6.19  x  10'10  gram  of  radium  per 
liter  (No.  56  from  Dixon  Spring)  ;  the  water  lowest  in  activity  (1.36 
x  10'10  gram  of  radium  per  liter  for  No.  59  from  Dixon  Spring)  has 
a  rather  low  mineral  matter,  containing  28.9  parts  per  million  of 
calcium,  14.2  parts  per  million  of  magnesium  and  261  parts  per  mil- 
lion of  residue;  and  the  water  lowest  in  mineral  matter,  with  2.9 
parts  per  million  of  calcium,  0.5  part  per  million  of  magnesium,  and 
98.1  parts  per  million  of  residue,  has  a  medium  activity  of  4.42  x  10'10 
gram  of  radium  per  liter  (No.  61  from  Dixon  Spring).  As  both  the 
mineral  content  and  the  activity  is  variable  there  appears  to  be  no 
relation  between  the  activity  of  these  waters  and  the  mineral  consti- 
tuents. (See  Plate  6). 

Some  of  the  springs  of  the  Ozark  region  have  the  highest  activi- 
ties of  any  waters  in  the  State,  (29.3  x  10'10  grain  of  radium  per  liter 
in  No.  57  from  Dixon  spring,  22.8  x  10'10  gram  of  radium  per  liter 
in  No.  60  from  Dixon  Spring) .  Careful  search  was  made  for  thorium 
and  uranium  but  none  were  found.  The  decay  of  the  activity  from 
four  springs  was  determined  during  a  period  of  nineteen  days  and 
found  to  be  the  same  as  that  of  radium  emanation  amounting  to  3.85 
days  per  half  period.  (See  Table  6  and  Plate  1) . 

COMPARISON  WITH  OTHER  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  WATERS 

The  activities  of  typical  waters  from  several  localities  in  America 
and  Europe  lie  between  100  x  10'10  gram  of  radium  per  liter  and  zero. 
(See  Table  7).  The  most  active  waters  are  found  in  Colorado,  Tyrol, 
Bohemia,  and  in  other  localities  where  uranium  deposits  occur.  No 
traces  of  uranium  deposits  have  been  found  in  Illinois.  Next  to  the 


RADIOACTIVITY  OF  ILLINOIS  WATERS 


21 


waters  from  Uranium  regions  the  Imperial  spring  at  Hot  Springs, 
Arkansas,  is  the  most  active  in  the  United  States  having  a  radioactivity 
of  90.5  x  1O10  gram  of  radium  per  liter  (266  x  10'4  gram  of  uranium). 
Two  springs  at  Arlington,  Rhode  Island,  are  next  with  activities  of 
58  and  47  x  10'10  gram  of  radium  per  liter.  Dixon  Spring  No.  2  in 
this  State  is  next  with  an  activity  of  29.3  x  10'10  gram  of  radium  per 
liter.  Several  waters  of  high  activity  have  been  found  in  Germany 
and  Switzerland.  They  are  comparable  with  the  highest  waters  in 
the  United  States.  Other  waters  of  Illinois  vary  in  activity  between 
that  of  Dixon  Spring  No.  2  and  zero. 

Several  of  the  waters  of  Illinois  have  an  activity  as  high  as  that  of 
some  waters  for  which  medicinal  value  is  claimed. 

TABLE  6. — DECAY  OF  ACTIVITY  OF  WATER  FROM  DIXON  SPRINGS, 
Nos.  2,  3,  4,  &  7. 


Time. 

Activity  (10-4  gram  of  Uranium). 

No.  2 

No.  3 

No.  4 

No.  7 

Ihr. 

2.'58 

2.80 

2.05 

2  hrs. 

2.58 

3.51 

2.65 

3hrs. 

2.68 

2.73 

3QA 

5hre. 

2.58 

2.81 

6  hrs. 

3!25 

2.81 

18  hrs. 

2.46 

24!6 

24  hrs. 

2!27 

2!s6 

2.05 

23.0 

2  days 

1.79 

17.6 

3  days 

i!55 

i'.si 

4  days 

i!26 

ii!4 

6  days 

0.82 

l!24 

"82 

12  days 

0.18 

.43 

.33 

14  days 

0.12 

19  davs 

0.10 

".33 

'!30 

6!  60 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  activity  of  waters  from  deep-rock  wells  is  low  and  constant. 

The  activity  of  waters  from  the  drift  is  low,  but  varies  with  the 
calcium,  magnesium,  and  residue. 

The  activity  of  waters  from  the  lower  Mississippian  is  low  and 
there  is  no  relation  to  the  mineral  content. 

The  activity  of  spring  waters  of  the  Ozark  uplift  is  the  highest  in 
the  State,  and  bears  no  relation  to  the  mineral  content.  Spring  waters 
north  of  the  Ozark  uplift  have  a  low  and  constant  activity  and  closely 
resemble  the  waters  of  the  deep-rock  wells. 

The  activity  of  waters  of  Illinois  bears  no  relation  to  the  depth 
of  the  well. 

The  activity  is  due  to  radium  emanation.  In  no  case  was  uranium 
or  thorium  found. 

The  activity  of  Illinois  waters  is  comparable  with  the  activity 
of  other  waters  of  the  United  States  and  Europe. 


22 


THE    WATERS    OF   ILLINOIS 


The  maximum  activity  observed  in  the  waters  of  the  State  is 
exceeded  within  this  country,  but  equals  that  of  some  waters  for  which 
medicinal  value  is  claimed. 

TABLE  7. — RADIOACTIVITY  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  WATERS. 


Electrostatic  units  x  10-3 


Austria,  Tyrols,  Froy  Magnesium  Springs. . 

Austria,  Tyrols,  Froy  Iron  Springs 

Austria,  Tyrols,  Froy  Sulphu  r  Springs 

Italy,  Naples,  Near  Hassler  Hotel 

Italy,  Naples,  Appolo  Water 

France ,  Vpges,  Bain  les  Bains 

France,  Vichy,  Chomel  Spring 

France,  Bagnoles  de  1'Orne 

France,  Luxeuil,  Grand  Bain 

Germany,  Gastein 

Germany,  Baden  Baden  Buttquells 

Germany,  Baden  Baden  Freidrichsquelle. .  . 

Germany,  Karlsbad  Eisenquells 

Germany,  Karlsbad  Felsenquelle 

Germany,  Wildbad 

Germany,  Wiesbaden  Koch  Brunnen 

Germany,  Karlsbad  Muhl  Brunnen 

Russia,  Caucausus,  Essentuky  No.  6 

Russia,  Caucausus,  Batalinsky 

Sweden,  Uppsala  Slottskallan 

Sweden,  Uppsala  Bourbrum 

Sweden,  Stockholm  Birjerjarlsg  No.  120 .  .  . 

Sweden,  Medevi  Hoghum 

Switzerland,  St,  Joachimstahl 

Switzerland,  Rothenbrunnen 

Switzerland,  Disentis 

Switzerland,  Andeer 


51.0 

11.0 
4.5 
2.7 
1.5 

16.0 

4.6 

3.3 

2.3 

149.0 

126.0 

6.7 

47.0 
5.3 
1.8 
2.3 

31.5 
8.6 
1.5 
4.29 
3.77 

35.68 
6.38 
185.0 
0.81 

46.7 
3.26 


(7) 

(39) 
(29) 

(39) 


(117) 
(48) 
(74) 
(81) 

(112) 


(74) 
(109) 


Uranium 
10-4  gram. 


Curries 
10-10 


Arkansas,  Hot  Springs,  Imperial  Springs 

Arkansas,  Hot  Springs,  Twin  springs 

Arkansas,  Hot  Springs,  Arsenic  spring 

Indiana,  Bloomington,  city  water 

Indiana,  Bloomington,  University  water 

Massachusetts,  Williamstown,  Sand  spring 
Massachusetts,  Williamstown,  Wampanoag.  . . . 

Massachusetts,  Williamstown,  Rich  spring 

Massachusetts,  Williamstown,  Sherman  spring. 

Massachusetts,  Williamstown,  Cold  spring 

Missouri,  Columbia,  University  well 

Missouri,  Sweet  Springs,  Sweet  springs 

Missouri,  Fayette,  Boonlick  springs 

Missouri,  Kansas  City,  Lake  spring 

New  York,  Saratoga,  Emperor , 

New  York,  Saratoga,  Crystal  rock , 

Ohio,  Oxford 


266.0 
65.4 
23.9 


1.68 
23.7 

4.6 
48.2 


0.27 

0.45 

1.21 

2.1 

0.1 

0.4 

0.1 


0.70 
8.80 
0.70 


(18) 

(91) 
(111) 


(82) 

(84) 
(91) 


Uranium 
10-4  gram 


Radium 
10-iu  gram 


Electro- 
static 
units  10-* 


Rhode  Island,  Arlington,  Spring. 
Rhode  Island,  Arlington,  Spring. 

Rhode  Island,  Providence 

Rhode  Island,  East  Providence. . 

Yellowstone  National  Park 

Mammouth  Hot  Springs 

Devil's  Ink  Pot 

Realgar  Springs 

Nymph  Springs 


Illinois 

Cairo 

Creal  Springs,  No.  3 . 
Dixon  Springs,  No.  2. 
Dixon  Springs,  No.  7. 

Homer  Park 

Joliet,  Well 

Mt.  Vernon,  Spring. . 

?ea  Water.  . . 


37.9 

0.6 

10.6 


13.0 
24.6 
86.1 
67.0 

8.4 
11.4 

5.2 


57.93 

46.71 

10.33 

1.18 


14.4 
0.23 
4.0 
2.6 


4.42 

8.36 
29.27 
22.78 

2.86 

3.88 

1.76 

0.0003 


26.3 
0.4 
7.4 

4.8 


9.1 

17.2 

60.2 

46.6 

5.8 

8.0 


(89) 


(83 


(64) 


RADIOACTIVITY    OF   ILLINOIS    WATERS  23 


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31.  Dienert  and  Bouquet,  Comp.  Rend.,  145,  894  (1908). 

Am.  Phys.,  338,  959  (1912). 

32.  Duane  and  Laborde,  Radium,  11,  5  (1914). 

Comp.  Rend,  150,  1421  (1910). 
J.  Phys.,  4,  605  (1905). 

33.  Ebler,  Zeit.  Angew,  Chem.  21,  737  (1908). 

34.  Ebler  and  Flexner,  Zeit.  Anorg.  Chem.,  72,  233  (1912). 

35.  Elstel  and  Geitel,  Phys.  Zeit.,  4,  439  (1903). 

36.  Elstel  and  Geitel,  Phys.  Zeit.,  5,  321  (1904). 

37.  Elstel  and  Geitel,  Phys.  Zeit.,  10,  664  (1909). 

38.  Engler  and  Sieveking,  Zeit.  Anorg.  Chem..  53,  1  (1907). 

39.  Engler  and  Sieveking,  Chem.  Zeit.,  31,  811  (1908). 

40.  Fresinius  and  Czapski,  Chem.  Zeit.,  35,  722  (1912). 

41.  Garrigon,  Comp.  Rend.,  146,  1352  (1908). 

42.  Gradenwitz,  Rev.  Gen.  Sci.  Pur.  and  App.,  21,  4  (1910). 

43.  Greinacher,  Phys.  Zeit.,  12,  209  (.1911). 

44.  Greinacher,  Phys.  Zeit.,  13,  435  (1912). 


24  THE  WATERS  OF   ILLINOIS 

45.  Gudzent,  Z.  Prak.  Geol.  18,  147  (1911). 

46.  Haywood,  U.  S.  Bur.  Chem.,  Bull.  91. 

47.  Headden,  Am.  J.  Sci.,  169,  297  (1905). 

48.  Henrieh,  Sitz.  K.  Akad.  Wiss.  Wien,  113,  1092. 

49.  Henrieh,  Zeit.  Anorg.  Chem.,  65,  714  (1910). 

50.  Henrich,  Zeit.  Angew  Chem.,  23,  340  (1910). 

51.  Henrich,  Zeit.  Angew  Chem.,  23,  1308  (1910). 

52.  Henrich,  Zeit.  Angew.  Chem.,  23,  1809  (1910). 

53.  Henrich,  Zeit.  Angew.  Chem.,  23,  2125  (1910). 

54.  Henrich,  Erlangen  and  Glasses,  Zeit.  Angew  Chem.,  25,  16  (1912). 

55.  Henrich,  Phys.  Zeit.  8,  112  (1907). 

56.  Himstead,  Ann.  Phys.,  13,  573  (1904). 

57.  Huart  and  Grechem,  Arch.  Trim.  Luxemburg.  Sci.,  2,  250  (1907). 

58.  111.  Water  Survey,  Bull.  4,  35  (1908). 

59.  Jaboin  and  Beaudoin,  Phys.  Zeit.,  12,  143  (1911). 

60.  Jeutsch,  Phys.  Zeit.,  7,  209  (1906). 

61.  Jeutsch,  Phys.  Zeit.,  9,  120  (1908). 

62.  Joly,  Eadioactivity  and  Geology  (1909). 

63.  Joly,  Phil.  Mag.,  14,  742  (1907). 

64.  Joly,  Phil.  Mag.,  15,  385  (1908). 

65.  Koch,  Radium  3,  362. 

66.  Koch,  Phys.  Zeit.,  7,  806  (1906). 

67.  LaGrange,  Phys.  Zeit.,  10,  543  (1909). 

68.  Levin,  Phyz.  Zeit.  11,  322  (1910). 

69.  Lind  and  Whittemore,  Bur.  Mines  Tech.  Paper  88,  (1915). 

70.  Lowenthal,  Phys.  Zeit.,  12,  143  (1911). 

71.  Lutz,  Phys.  Zeit.,  9,  100  (1908). 

72.  Mache,  Phys.  Zeit.,  5,  441  (1904). 

73.  Mache  and  Meyer,  Zeit.  Instru.  29,  (1909). 

74.  Mache  and  Meyer,  Sitz.  K.  Akad.  Wiss.  Wien,  114,  355. 

75.  Makower,  Radioactive  Substances,  (1908). 

76.  Massol,  Comp.  Rend.,  155,  373  (1912). 

77.  McCoy,  Ber.  Chem.  Ges.  No.  11,  2641  (1904). 

78.  McCoy,  J.  Am.  Chem.  Soc.,  27,  391  (1905). 

79.  McCoy,  Phil.  Mag.,  11,  177  (1906). 

80.  McCoy,  Ashman  and  Ross,  Am.  J.  Sci.,  176,  521  (1908). 

J.  Am.  Chem.  Soc.,  29,  1698  (1907). 

81.  Mezernitsky,  J.  Russ.  Phys.  Chem.  Soc.,  43,  244  (1911). 

82.  Moore  and  Schlundt.  Trans.  Am.  Elect.  Chem.  Soc.,  8,  291  (1905). 

83.  Moore  and  Schlundt,  U.  S.  Geol.  Sur.,  Bull.  395  (1909). 

84.  Moore  and  Whittemore,  J.  Ind.  Eng.  Chem.,  6,  552  (1914). 

85.  Moreau  and  Lepape,  Comp.  Rend.,  148,  834  (1909). 

86.  Muller,  Phys.  Zeit.,  11,  545  (1910). 

87.  Olie,  Chem.  Weekblad,  5,  823,  (1908). 

88.  Peale,  U.  S.  Geol.  Sur.  Report  14,  66  (1894). 

89.  Perkins,  Science,  42,  808  (1915). 

90.  Rafferty,  Science  of  Radioactivity  (1909). 

91.  Ramsey,  Am.  J.  Sci.,  190,  309  (1915). 

92.  Randall,  Trans.  Am.  Elect.  Chem.  Soc.,  21,  463  (1912). 

93.  Repin,  Comp.  Rend.,  147,  387  (1908). 


RADIOACTIVITY   OF  ILLINOIS   WATERS  25 

94.  Rutherford,  Radioactive  Measurments. 

95.  Rutherford,  Radium  Transformations. 

96.  Rutherford,  Radioactive  Substances  and  their  Transformations. 

97.  Rutherford,  Ibid.  p.  24  (1913). 

98.  Rutherford,  Ibid.  p.  50. 

99.  Rutherford,  Ibid.  p.  164. 

100.  Rutherford,  Ibid.  p.  297. 

101.  Rutherford,  Ibid.  p.  460. 

102.  Rutherford,  Ibid.  p.  668. 

103.  Rutherford,  Conductance  of  Electricity  Through  Gases. 

104.  Rutherford  and  McClurg,  Phil.  Trans.  A.,  196,  52  (1901). 

105.  Sarasin,  Guye  and  Mitchell,  Arch.  Sci.  Phy.  Nat.,  25,  36  (1908). 

106.  Schlundt  and  Moore,  Am.  J.  Sci.,  168,  97  (1904). 

107.  Schlundt  and  Moore,  Bur.  Mines  Tech.  Paper,  88,  (1915). 

108.  Schmidt,  Phys.  Zeit.,  8,  107  (1907). 

109.  Schweitzer,  Arh.  Sci.  Phy.  Nat.,   (4)   27,  256,   (1909). 

110.  Schweitzer,  Arh.  Sci.  Phy.  Nat.,  (4)  30,  46  (1911). 

111.  Shrader,  Phys.  Rev.,  38,  339  (1914). 

112.  Sjorgen  and  Sahlborn,  Arh.  Kemi.  Min.  Geol.  3,  No.  2  (1908). 

113.  Soddy,  Chem.  Radio  Elements  (1914). 

114.  Soddy,  Radioactivity  (1904). 

115.  Strutt,  Proc.  Roy.  Soc.,  73,  191  (1904). 

116.  Strutt,  Nature,  March  17,  July  17,  (1904). 

117.  Stuttgart,  Phy.  Zeit.,  7,  806  (1906). 

118.  Szilard,  Comp.  Rend.,  154,  982  (1912). 
•119.  Thomson,  Phil.  Mag.,  47,  253  (1899). 

120.  Thomson,  Proc.  Cambo.  Phil.  Soc.,  12,  172  (1903). 

Nature,  67,  609  (1903). 

121.  Van  Hofer,  Int.  Z.  Wass.  Vorsorg.,  1,  52  (1914). 

122.  Van  Sury,  Chem.  Zent.,  1,  1283  (1907). 

123.  Wellik,  Monatsch,  30,  89  (1909). 

Mitt.  Nat.  Steirmark,  45,  257  (1910). 

124.  Weszelsky,  Ion.  2,  388  (1911). 

125.  Wilson,  Proc.  Roy.  Soc.,  68,  152  (1901). 

126.  Wulf,  Phys.  Zeit.,  9,  1090  (1910). 

127.  Zeleny,  Phy.  Rev.,  32,  581  (1912). 


26 


THE  WATERS  OF  ILLINOIS 


Simple  Electroscope 
For  Solids 


Simple  Electroscope 
For    Gases 


Fiq.3. 


Simple  Electroscope 
For   Solutions 


Electroacope 
For   Solids 


RADIOACTIVITY   OF  ILLINOIS   WATERS 


27 


.  6. 


Front  View  5ide  View 

Electroscope  -for   Gases 


Fig-  8. 


Jt- 


Apparatus  for  separatirtq 
Emanation  -from  Uiramni-ir« 


Apparatus  f>r  eeparatinq 
Emanation  -from  Water 


28 


THE   WATERS   OF   ILLINOIS 


—  RADIUM  EMANATION 

©  ACTIVITY  OF  WATER  FROM  SPRIMG  NO. 

ACTIVITY  OF  WAT£R  FROM  SPRlWfr  NO.  3 

ACTIVITY  OF  wxTEf?  FROM  SPRING  NO 

e  ACTIVITY  OF  W/tTER  F*0tt  5  PRI NG  NO.  7 


Time 


Plate    1. — Comparison    of    decay    of    activities    of    waters    from    Dixon    Springs 

with  radium  emanation. 


o  CALCIUM 
e  MA6NE5IUM 


•o g- 


e  o 


40  80  /20      _  e  ..  |£o  200 

Calcium  o.nd  rw^nesium    r-r-n> 

Plate  2. — Eelation  of  activity  to  calcium  and  magnesium  in  waters  from  deep 

rock  wells. 


RADIOACTIVITY    OF   ILLINOIS    WATERS 


29 


Calcium  a.™/  Magnesium    P.RM- 
Plate  3. — Eelation  of  activity  to  calcium  and  magnesium  in  water  from  drift  wells. 


6.0 

£ 

<^ 

7* 

2 


oo 


600 


1*00  1800 

Residues  PPM. 


2400 


9000 


Plate  4. — Eelation  of  activity  to  residue  in  water  from  drift  wells. 


30 


THE   WATERS   OF   ILLINOIS 


0 

<D 

e 

o   CALCIUM 
e  RESIDUE 
'•  RESIPUE-NaCi 

O 
® 
0 

®                                             e 
e 

?0 

0       ©                                         e 

i 

w  Ca/c/</7n        120     pp^j. 

Plate  5. — Eelation  of  activity  to  calcium  and  residue  in  water  from  lower 

Mississippian. 


Calcium 

©  Ozark  Springs 
0   Other  Springs 

Residues 

•   Or  ark  Spring* 
a>   Other  Springs 


o     o 


<D  O 


Plate  6. — Belation  of  activity  to  calcium  and  residue  in  water  from  springs. 


VITA 

The  writer  received  his  early  education  in  the  public  schools  of 
Kissimmee,  Florida,  and  Watseka,  Illinois.  He  was  graduated  with 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science  from  the  University  of  Illinois  in 
1913.  In  1914,  he  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Science  at  the 
same  institution. 

From  1911  to  1913  he  was  student  assistant  in  Sanitary  Chem- 
istry at  the  University  of  Illinois.  From  1913  to  1914  he  was  a  gradu- 
ate assistant  in  Electro- Chemistry  (one  semester)  and  Qualitative 
Analysis  (one  semester).  During  the  summers  of  1911,  1912,  1913, 
and  1914  he  was  assistant  chemist  in  the  State  Water  Survey.  From 
1914  to  1916  he  was  a  fellow  in  Sanitary  Chemistry  at  the  University 
of  Illinois. 
His  publications  are : 

The  Perchloric  Method  of  Determining  Potassium  as  Applied 
to  Water  Analysis. 

Am.  Chem.  Soc.,  36,  2085  (1914). 

Univ.  of  111.  Bull.,  State  Water  Survey  Series  No.  11,  150  (1914). 

Chem.  News,  111,  62  (1915). 
With  Edward  Bartow, 

The  Comparative  Value  of  a  Calcium  Lime  and  a  Magnesium- 
Calcium  Lime  for  Water  Softening. 

J.  Ind.  Eng.  Chem.,  6,  189  (1914). 

Univ.  of  111.  Bull.,  State  Water  Survey  Series  No.  11,  142  (1914). 


AN  INITIAL  PINE  OP  25  CENTS 

RETURN 
Wli         *,„*.  DUE'    ™E   PENALTY 

DAY    AND  *™  °°  CENTS  °N  ™E  FOUR™ 


MAR     4    1936 


Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
PAT.  JAN.  21,  1908 


385520 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


